On Tuesday February 8th, the NAACP announced that Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) will receive the 2005 Chairman’s Award during the taping of the 36th Annual Image Awards.  The awards ceremony will be taped March 19 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The broadcast, Created Equal will air on Friday, March 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.

The Chairman’s Award, chosen by NAACP Board Chairman Julian Bond, is bestowed in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service.

"Before he could even cast one vote in the United States Senate, Barack Obama electrified the nation.  His seemingly impossible campaign riveted the country - and his Democratic Convention speech celebrated the America we've worked 100 years to make real. We are proud to honor this man and the principles he stands for," said Bond.

Obama was sworn into office January 4, 2005, becoming only the third African American elected to the U.S. Senate since the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.  Obama has dedicated his life to public service as a community organizer, civil rights attorney and leader in the Illinois State Senate.

During his seven years in the state senate, Obama worked to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to Illinois families.  Obama also helped pass legislation that expanded early childhood education and drafted legislation requiring the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.

Obama was born on August 4, 1961 to Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham.  He graduated from Columbia University in 1983, and moved to Chicago in 1985 to work for a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.  In 1991, Obama graduated from Harvard Law School where he was the first African American editor of the Harvard Law Review.  Obama and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

The Chairman’s Award is one of three special NAACP Image Awards that will be presented this year.  The others are the Hall of Fame Award presented to Oprah Winfrey and the Vanguard Award, whose recipient will be announced later this month.

Previous NAACP Chairman’s Award recipients include the Dave Matthews Band in 2004, actor/activist Danny Glover in 2003 and political cartoonist Aaron McGruder in 2002.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization.  Its half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

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